Substrate Processing Apparatus, Substrate Processing Method, Method of Manufacturing Semiconductor Device and Non-transitory Computer-readable Recording Medium

Abstract

There is provided a technique that includes: an atmospheric transfer structure configured to transfer a substrate in an atmospheric atmosphere; a plurality of processing structures arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure and configured to be capable of processing the substrate in a vacuum atmosphere; an intermediate structure arranged adjacent to the plurality of processing structures, and configured to receive the substrate from the atmospheric transfer structure and to transfer the substrate to each of the plurality of processing structures in an atmosphere whose pressure is lower than that of the atmospheric atmosphere.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 an atmospheric transfer structure configured to transfer a substrate in an atmospheric atmosphere;   a plurality of processing structures arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure and configured to be capable of processing the substrate in a vacuum atmosphere; and   an intermediate structure arranged adjacent to the plurality of processing structures, and configured to receive the substrate from the atmospheric transfer structure and to transfer the substrate to each of the plurality of processing structures in an atmosphere whose pressure is lower than that of the atmospheric atmosphere.   
     
     
         2 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an intermediate transfer robot provided in the intermediate structure and capable of transferring the substrate into the intermediate structure; and   a controller,   wherein each of the plurality of processing structures is provided with a loading port communicating with the intermediate structure and an unloading port communicating with the atmospheric transfer structure, and   wherein the controller is configured to be capable of controlling the intermediate transfer robot such that an unprocessed substrate in the intermediate structure is loaded from the intermediate structure into a processing structure among the plurality of processing structures through the loading port related to the processing structure, and such that a processed substrate for which a processing is completed in the processing structure is unloaded from the processing structure to the atmospheric transfer structure through the unloading port related to the processing structure.   
     
     
         3 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an intermediate transfer robot provided in the intermediate structure and capable of transferring the substrate within the intermediate structure.   
     
     
         4 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of processing structures comprises: a first processing structure; and a second processing structure with the intermediate structure disposed therebetween, and
 wherein a housing constituting the intermediate structure comprises:
 a first wall adjacent to the first processing structure; 
 a second wall adjacent to the second processing structure; 
 a third wall adjacent to the atmospheric transfer structure; and 
 a fourth wall disposed in a position opposite to the third wall, and 
   wherein an arm of the intermediate transfer robot is allowed to rotate within a space surrounded by the first wall, the second wall and the third wall but is prevented from rotating in a direction from the first wall or the second wall toward the fourth wall.   
     
     
         5 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the intermediate structure is configured such that an inner atmosphere of the intermediate structure returns from an atmosphere whose pressure is lower than that of the atmospheric atmosphere to the atmospheric atmosphere while the intermediate transfer robot is supporting a processed substrate. 
     
     
         6 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a standby structure provided in the intermediate structure,   wherein the substrate is in standby in the standby structure.   
     
     
         7 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the standby structure is capable of supporting the substrate and one or more substrates. 
     
     
         8 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the substrate and the one or more substrates are capable of being stacked in the standby structure, and
 wherein the standby structure and the intermediate transfer robot are configured to be capable of being moved relatively in an up-down direction.   
     
     
         9 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a controller,   wherein each of the plurality of processing structures is provided with a substrate support capable of supporting the substrate and one or more substrates, and   wherein the controller is configured to be capable of controlling the intermediate transfer robot such that the substrate is transferred to the standby structure when the number of substrates capable of being supported by the substrate support is greater than the number of substrates capable of being transferred by the intermediate transfer robot.   
     
     
         10 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of processing structures comprises: a first processing structure; and a second processing structure with the intermediate structure disposed therebetween, and
 wherein a housing constituting the intermediate structure comprises:
 a first wall adjacent to the first processing structure; 
 a second wall adjacent to the second processing structure; 
 a third wall adjacent to the atmospheric transfer structure; and 
 a fourth wall disposed in a position opposite to the third wall, and 
   wherein a first loading/unloading port is provided on the third wall and second loading/unloading ports are provided respectively on the first wall and the second wall, and each of the second loading/unloading ports is arranged at a lateral position with respect to an entrance direction of the substrate to be loaded through the first loading/unloading port.   
     
     
         11 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of processing structures is provided with a loading/unloading port communicating with the intermediate structure, and
 wherein each of the plurality of processing structures comprises:
 a transfer chamber where the loading/unloading port is provided; and 
 a process chamber provided above the transfer chamber and made of quartz. 
   
     
     
         12 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of combinations, each of which is constituted by the intermediate structure and the plurality of processing structures, are arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure. 
     
     
         13 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the intermediate structure is arranged between the plurality of processing structures in each of the plurality of combinations. 
     
     
         14 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein:
 each of the plurality of processing structures comprises: a first processing structure; and a second processing structure with the intermediate structure disposed therebetween;   the plurality of combinations are arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure; and   in locations where two combinations among the plurality of combinations are adjacent to each other, positions of the first processing structure and the second processing structure in each of the two combinations are set such that the first processing structure of one of the two combinations is adjacent to the second processing structure of the other of the two combinations.   
     
     
         15 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of processing structures comprises: a first processing structure; and a second processing structure with the intermediate structure disposed therebetween, and
 wherein a plurality of combinations, each of which is constituted by the first processing structure, the second processing structure and the intermediate structure, are arranged so as to be point symmetrical at positions facing one another with the atmospheric transfer structure interposed therebetween.   
     
     
         16 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an atmospheric transfer robot provided in the atmospheric transfer structure and capable of transferring the substrate into the intermediate structure; and   an intermediate transfer robot provided in the intermediate structure and capable of transferring the substrate into each of the plurality of processing structures,   wherein the substrate is transferred from the atmospheric transfer robot to the intermediate transfer robot, or transferred from the intermediate transfer robot to the atmospheric transfer robot.   
     
     
         17 . The substrate processing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate structure is further provided with a cooling structure capable of cooling the processed substrate. 
     
     
         18 . A substrate processing method comprising:
 (a) accommodating a substrate transferred from an atmospheric transfer structure in an atmospheric atmosphere in an intermediate structure arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure;   (b) transferring the substrate from the intermediate structure in an atmosphere whose pressure is lower than that of the atmospheric atmosphere to a processing structure arranged adjacent to the intermediate structure; and   (c) processing the substrate in the processing structure.   
     
     
         19 . A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
 the method of claim  18 .   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a substrate processing apparatus, by a computer, to perform:
 (a) accommodating a substrate transferred from an atmospheric transfer structure in an atmospheric atmosphere in an intermediate structure arranged along the atmospheric transfer structure;   (b) transferring the substrate from the intermediate structure in an atmosphere whose pressure is lower than that of the atmospheric atmosphere to a processing structure arranged adjacent to the intermediate structure; and   (c) processing the substrate in the processing structure.